Werner Voss / Aviation History Magazine

[Kirby]

There is a very nice article/story on Werner Voss by O'Brien Browne in this month's (July 2003) Aviation History magazine.

A couple of interesting quotes:

"While some historians have said the cowl was painted chrome-yellow, the squadron marking of Jasta 10, no conclusive evidence has ever been found to confirm that statement."

Re Voss's mental state towards his demise: " 'He was on edge,' recalled another squadron mate, Alois Heldmann, 'he had the nervous instability of a cat. I think it would be fair to say that he was flying on his nerves, and such a situation could have but one end.' "

Rhys Davids is quoted as saying, after Voss's last magnificent fight, "Oh, if I could only have brought him down alive."

It's a pretty good read and I recommend y'all check it out.

Kirby

[alex_revell]

It wasn't Mac who wished he could have brought down Voss alive. It was Rhys Davids. I hope the rest of the article is more accurate.
Alex

[Kirby]

It wasn't Mac who wished he could have brought down Voss alive. It was Rhys Davids. I hope the rest of the article is more accurate.
Alex

Alex

You are absolutely correct and so was the author. The mistake was mine; I misread the line and have now corrected it.

Here is the entire sentence:

"And Rhys Davids, who received congratulations from his squadron mates for his part in the fray, said to McCudden, 'Oh, if I could only have brought him down alive.' "

My apologies to you and the author.

Kirby

Well, somebody got some things wrong!. Cecil Lewis, in "Sagatarius Rising" said Rhys-Davids flew under Voss, ran the Lewis back on the Foster mount and shot him from below while he was otherwise occupied. The article says he emptied a Lewis drum (97 rounds) and a commensurate amount of ammo from his Vickers into Voss from ABOVE.(Lots of rounds for one pass.)
Also, Lewis stated that the flight Voss ran into consisted of England's top aces, who were on the way back to England to train new aviators. Article said they flew out of 56 sqdn.
I enjoyed the article like the rest of you, but I'm thinking of taking up another branch of history, like maybe, the birth of monotheism in lower Egypt or the adventures of Ugg and Slugg in the dim and distant stone age. At least there, no contrary accounts would crop up to screw with my somewhat limited mind power.
The more I read, the more I conclude that all of those WW-I pilots were either lousy observers or hot air merchants.

[Ginger.]

McCudden's or Rhys Davids accounts are the one's you should read.
Try either 'Brief Glory' or 'High In The Empty Blue' by Alex Revell, they contain the best descriptions of the last stand of Werner Voss.
As regards fighter pilots, they are all hot air merchants, whatever the period.

Ginger:
About 20 years ago, when some members of the parachute regiment visited Fort Lewis, I was presented a coaster with their insignia in silver.
I understant the British lion on the crown on the brolly superimposed on the wings and "utrinque paratus"(Ready for Anything), but in between is what looks like a roman numeral II. What does this represent?
Were you among the chaps I met at that time?

[Ginger.]

No it was not I, never been to America. It sounds like our mob though, the Romam numerals are for 2 Para.

Thank you for your replies.